Tent House and Event Decoration Business
टेंट हाउस और इवेंट डेकोरेशन व्यवसाय · मंडप आणि इव्हेंट डेकोरेशन व्यवसाय
Rent out tents, pandals, chairs, tables, stages, lighting and decoration for weddings and functions, and set them up with your own team.
Investment
₹10.1 lakh
Profit a month*
₹32,000
- Space
- 1,000 sq ft
- Staff
- 2 + you
*Operating profit before the loan instalment in year 2, at the assumed sales level. Change the assumptions in the calculator below.
A tent house owns tents and pandal material, chairs, tables, carpets, stage and mandap sets, lights and often sound equipment, and rents them out for weddings, engagements, religious programmes, political meetings and other functions. Its team transports, erects and decorates everything before the event and takes it down afterwards. The business needs a godown, a large stock of rental goods and a few steady workers, with extra labour hired per event. It suits someone with local contacts and the stamina for night work in the season. Once the stock is bought, each booking brings in rent on the same goods again and again. The hard parts are heavy investment in stock, strong seasonality, wear, loss and theft of items, safety of structures and wiring, and late payments.
Skills needed: Erecting safe structures, decoration sense, managing labour and transport on tight schedules, and dealing with families under pressure on event days.
Profit calculator
Change the numbers to match your town0 event/day: Event booking (tent, seating, stage and lighting for a mid-size function)
Total investment
₹10.1 lakh
Your own money
₹1.01 lakh
Subsidy
—
Bank loan
₹9.1 lakh
Mudra Tarun
A typical month in year 2
| Sales | ₹1,13,750 |
| Raw material & packing | −₹40,950 |
| Electricity | −₹817 |
| Salaries | −₹23,100 |
| Rent | −₹10,500 |
| Other running costs | −₹6,300 |
| Operating profit | ₹32,083 |
| Loan instalment (EMI) | −₹21,208 |
| You keep each month | ₹10,874 |
After the loan is repaid, the EMI becomes your income too. Your own salary is not counted as a cost: the profit is your income.
- Cash goes negative in some year: lower drawings, extend the tenure, raise own money, or take working capital as a separate cash-credit limit.
- Year 1 shows a loss at the assumed utilisation. Banks look closely at year-1 viability.
Need this for a bank loan?
Turn these numbers into a full project report: cost of project, means of finance, 5-year profit and loss, balance sheet, repayment schedule, DSCR and break-even.
Make my project reportInvestment breakdown
| Machinery & equipment | Price |
|---|---|
| Tent and pandal material (pipes, trusses, cloth ceilings, side walls) | ₹3,50,000 |
| Plastic and banquet chairs × 300 | ₹1,35,000 |
| Folding tables with covers × 30 | ₹45,000 |
| Carpets, sofas, stage platforms and mandap set | ₹1,50,000 |
| Lighting (LED pars, serial lights, focus lights), cables and distribution boards | ₹1,00,000 |
| Fans, coolers and basic sound system | ₹80,000 |
| Godown racks, tools and ladders | ₹25,000 |
| Used tempo for transportadd-on | ₹3,50,000 |
| Generator setadd-on | ₹1,50,000 |
| Machinery & equipment (without add-ons) | ₹8,85,000 |
| Registrations | ₹5,000 |
| Godown rent deposit | ₹30,000 |
| Photo album of sample set-ups, visiting cards and advertising | ₹20,000 |
| Working capital 5 days of raw material, 10 days of credit to buyers, 1 month of expenses | ₹70,671 |
| Total project cost | ₹10,10,671 |
Typical market prices as of October 2026, from supplier listings. Prices vary by brand, capacity and city; always get 2–3 quotes.
Cost and margin per unit
| Event booking (tent, seating, stage and lighting for a mid-size function) (per event) | ₹ |
|---|---|
| Labour hired for set-up and dismantling | 5000.00 |
| Transport of material | 2500.00 |
| Fresh flowers, fabric cleaning, generator fuel and consumables | 1500.00 |
| Material cost | 9000.00 |
| Selling price | 25000.00 |
| Margin before running costs | 16000.00 (64%) |
Capacity is about 13 events a month. The ₹25,000 average booking is an assumption built from published item rates (plastic chair ₹10–30 a day, covered table ₹100–180, pandal ₹28–40 per sq ft). A 2026 guide puts a basic shamiana or pandal at ₹50,000 to ₹3 lakh for one function in cities, so small-town bookings vary widely.
Space, power and staff
1,000 sq ft
Rented shed · rent ≈ ₹10,000/month
Small-town rent for a dry godown with vehicle access. Cloth and carpets must be stored dry and away from rodents.
2 kW, single-phase
Bill ≈ ₹1,500/month at full capacity
2 staff + you
- 2 × Permanent helpers (set-up, maintenance, godown): ₹11,000
Licences and registrations
Shop and Establishment registration
mandatoryWhen: Within the period your state sets after starting · Cost: Small fee; varies by state
GST registration
if applicableWhen: When turnover crosses the registration limit for services · Cost: Free
Tent and furniture rental is generally taxed at 18%. Confirm with a CA.
Event permissions (police, local body, loudspeaker, fire)
if applicableWhen: For events on public land, large gatherings or loudspeaker use · Cost: Varies
Usually the organiser applies, but the tent contractor is asked for structure and electrical safety details. Follow local rules on loudspeaker timings.
Electrical and fire safety of temporary structures
mandatoryWhen: Every event · Cost: Part of the job
Use proper cables, earthing and protective devices, keep exits clear and keep fire extinguishers on site. Fires and collapses at pandals have led to criminal cases against contractors.
Udyam registration
recommendedWhen: Before applying for a loan · Cost: Free
Apply only on udyamregistration.gov.in.
How it works
- Visit the venue; agree layout, items, decoration theme and price in writing; take an advance.
- Load material and reach the site with the team.
- Erect the structure, lay flooring, arrange seating and stage, fix lighting and test power.
- Stay on call during the event for power or weather problems.
- Dismantle, count every item back into the godown, repair and wash what needs it.
- Collect the balance.
Loan route
Mudra loan (Tarun)
Own money ₹1.01 lakh · Loan ₹9.1 lakh · EMI ≈ ₹21,208
No collateral, no subsidy.
How Mudra worksPMEGP (new units)
Subsidy ₹1.52 lakh (general, urban) to ₹3.54 lakh (special category, rural). EMI ≈ ₹17,674–₹14,139.
Own money 5–10%. Applicant must be at least 8th pass for this project size. Subsidy is held as a 3-year deposit, then adjusted against the loan.
How PMEGP worksAssumes 10.5% interest, 5 years including a 6-month moratorium. PMEGP was approved up to FY 2025-26. Check on the KVIC PMEGP portal that applications are open before you plan around the subsidy.
No collateral and no third-party guarantee (covered by the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units).
Who buys and how to sell
Buyers
- Wedding, engagement and reception families
- Religious and community programmes
- Political parties and public meetings
- Schools, colleges and companies (functions and exhibitions)
- Caterers and event planners (sub-contract)
Ways to sell
- References and visible past work
- Tie-ups with marriage halls, lawns, caterers and event planners
- Rate cards given to local mandals and committees
- Photo and video portfolio on social media
Season: Very seasonal: wedding months, major festivals such as Ganeshotsav, Navratri and Diwali, and election periods are peak; the monsoon is slow.
Competition: Established tent houses in every town, and decorators with newer designs. Reliability on the day, fresh-looking material and safe structures win repeat bookings.
Risks and how to handle them
Structure collapse, electric shock or fire at an event
Use sound pipes and joints, proper wiring with earth-leakage protection, flame-retardant cloth where possible and extinguishers on site; refuse unsafe layouts.
Items lost, stolen or damaged at events
Count out and count in, mark your goods and agree in writing who pays for losses.
Money locked in stock that earns only in season
Start with core items and hire the rest from other tent houses until bookings justify buying.
Storm or rain damages the set-up
Use waterproof covering and anchoring in the rainy months and tell clients the limits in advance.
Clients delay final payment
Take a large advance and the balance before dismantling, as written in the order.
Tips from the trade
- Tent houses routinely hire stock from each other; you do not need to own everything in year one.
- Clean, new-looking cloth and chairs win bookings more than low prices.
- A tie-up with one caterer and one marriage lawn brings steady work.
Questions people ask
How do tent houses charge?+
Usually item by item: per chair, per table, per square foot of covering, per light and so on, plus labour and transport. Decorators and planners more often quote one lump sum for the whole set-up.
Is this the same as event management?+
No. A tent house rents and installs physical items. An event manager plans and coordinates the whole function and hires tent houses, caterers and others.
How much investment is needed to start a tent house and event decoration business?+
About ₹10.1 lakh for a small unit: ₹8.85 lakh for machinery and equipment, ₹55,000 for set-up costs and ₹70,671 as working capital (stock, credit to buyers and one month of expenses). Prices as of October 2026.
How much profit can a tent house and event decoration business make per month?+
At 35% of capacity, sales are about ₹1.14 lakh a month and operating profit about ₹32,083 before the loan instalment. After an EMI of about ₹21,208, the owner keeps about ₹10,874 a month until the loan is repaid. These are estimates; your prices, rent and sales decide the real figure.
Can I get a Mudra loan or PMEGP subsidy for tent house and event decoration?+
With a project cost of about ₹10.1 lakh, the bank loan of about ₹9.1 lakh falls under Mudra Tarun. Mudra has no subsidy. As a new unit you may instead apply under PMEGP, where the subsidy is 15–35% of the project cost (up to about ₹3.54 lakh here for a special-category applicant in a rural area). PMEGP was approved up to FY 2025-26. Check on the KVIC PMEGP portal that applications are open before you plan around the subsidy.
What licences are required for tent house and event decoration?+
Mandatory: Shop and Establishment registration, Electrical and fire safety of temporary structures. Depending on your set-up you may also need: GST registration, Event permissions (police, local body, loudspeaker, fire), Udyam registration.
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Sources
- Tentwala: tent house items price list
- Velvet Knot: wedding tent cost in India 2026
- IndiaMART: tent rental listings
- Busy: GST rate on tent house rentals and services
- Maini Signet: tent house business, how to start in 2026
Prices as of October 2026. Prices here come from online listings and published guides and have not yet been confirmed with local suppliers. Profit figures are estimates from the assumptions above, not a promise of income.
Spotted an outdated price? Tell us. Data for this page: HowIndiaEarns.